Nubian Bustard

Medium-sized weaver. Breeding males are striking with a black face and neck and a dark brown iris that contrasts with its yellow body. Female and nonbreeding male similar with a yellow breast and white belly. Usually found in marshy areas with tall grass. Builds a basket nest, woven together with grass and sticks that hangs from trees. Territorial males give a squeaking, wheezing song. Native to central, western, and northwestern Africa; introduced to the Iberian Peninsula.

Very local in humid evergreen forest of limestone (karst) lowlands and foothills in southernmost Veracruz and adjacent Chiapas; endemic. Stays on or near the ground, moving quickly over and among limestone boulders, popping in and out of caves and crevices. Like most wrens, heard more often than seen, but can be curious; sometimes appears at close range, bobbing and holding its tail cocked. Distinctive: rather chunky with a very long bill and a whitish bib.

This plump brown bird is found in the Andes in Venezuela and Colombia, from the lower foothills up to 2,100 m. Females are darker than males, with a less prominent white mustache. Not many similar species in range; beware White-whiskered Puffbird, which is typically found at lower elevations and shows yellowish (not gray) lower mandible and more streaking on belly. Typically inconspicuous in the lower to middle levels of wet forest, where singles or pairs often sit motionless on a horizontal limb.